Herndon in Fairfax County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)

Mosby’s Herndon Station Raid

“My loss was nothing.”

—Mosby's Confederacy —

By J. J. Prats, March 10, 2006

1. Mosby's Herndon Station Raid Marker

Inscription. On St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 1863, Confederate Capt. John S. Mosby and 40 Partisan Rangers attacked the picket post of the 1st Vermont Cavalry guarding this station on the Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad. The detachment commander Lt. Alexander G. Watson, had just been joined by Maj. William Wells and other officers to investigate charges that pickets were stealing from local citizens.

Arriving ahead of a Union relief force, Mosby and his men took the pickets by surprise with only one Vermonter wounded. The Union officers were having lunch at the home of Kitty Hanna, whose husband, Nat, rant the general store in the station. The officers were also captured after a brief struggle during which Wells fell through the attic ceiling but was not injured.

Mosby reported to Gen. J.E.B. Stuart that: Yesterday I attacked a body of the enemy's cavalry at Herndon Station, in Fairfax County, completely routing them . . . I brought off 25 prisoners—a major (Wells), 1 captain, 2 lieutenants, and 21 men, all their arms, 26 horses and equipments . . . My loss was nothing . . . In this affair my officers and men behaved splendidly.

Because of Mosby's success in Herndon and northern Virginia, Union forces soon withdrew beyond Difficult Run closer to Washington, D.C. Wells later received the Medal of

By J. J. Prats, March 10, 2006

2. Closeup of Map on Marker

Click on image to see a clear copy full size.

Honor for his bravery at the Battle of Gettysburg. He kept in touch with Mosby after the war, and Well's daughter later invited Mosby to her wedding.

Location. 38° 58.226′ N, 77° 23.157′ W. Marker is in Herndon, Virginia, in Fairfax County. Marker is on Station Street north of Elden Street (Virginia Route 228), on the left when traveling north. Click for map. This and two other markers face the Washington and Old Dominion Trail, which crosses Station Street at the markers. The old railroad station is across the street. A free municipal parking lot opposite the old train station—now a visitor's center for the Town of Herndon—is a few steps from the markers and the trail. Marker is in this post office area: Herndon VA 20170, United States of America.

Pavement is the 45-mile long Washington and Old Dominion Trail, which is on the former right of way of the Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad from Alexandria to Purcellville. Station Street is between the markers and the station.

Credits. This page originally submitted on , by J. J. Prats of Springfield, Virginia. This page has been viewed 3,910 times since then and 436 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on , by J. J. Prats of Springfield, Virginia. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016.